Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEAR12. The final report of the Working Group on 14-19 Reform was published in October2004 (DfES, 2004a) leading to the publication of a government white paper on 14-19 reformin February 2005, 14-19 Education and Skills (DfES, 2005). A further significant policydevelopment will be the publication of a green paper on youth services which is scheduledfor spring 2005 and will also have consequences for the support which will be available to14-19 year olds.13. This overview has served to illustrate the complex and developing policy environmentwithin which the 14-19 Pathfinders have been operating. The local circumstances andinstitutional arrangements within which pathfinders operate, with different combinations ofinstitutions providing 14-19 learning, different histories of collaborative work, varyingcompetitive pressures and a diverse range of socio-economic and educational contexts adds tothis complexity, which is illustrated through the case studies. 14-19 Pathfinders have beenencouraged to reflect local imperatives and circumstances within broad parameters and thusdiversity has been encouraged within the initiative.14. Within this policy environment, pathfinders have a key role in testing out new waysof working which will take the 14-19 reform agenda forward. It is intended that thepathfinders should help to provide a strong sense of direction for the 14-19 agenda, developexamples of good practice and raise key issues which will need to be tackled in order to takethe reform process forward.Pathfinder aims and objectives15. 14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards (DfES, 2002) indicated that 14-19Pathfinders should:‣ test out a range of ideas and discover new ones‣ develop best practice in 14-19 education and training to guide the steps to, and pace of, anational roll-out‣ identify barriers to a coherent 14-19 phase and design ways to overcome them‣ demonstrate that the reforms can work in a variety of locations with different socialcircumstances and different mixes of schools and colleges.5